Male urinary incontinence is a common medical problem. Commonly used male urinary incontinence devices include absorbent diapers, invasive urinary catheters and/or external, non-invasive urine collection devices. Each device either subjects the user to adverse health issues. For example, diapers are associated with a high rate of skin breakdown and ulcer formation while indwelling urinary catheters are a cause of urinary tract infections (UTI). Accordingly, there is a great demand for non-invasive external incontinence devices for collecting urine from males without that does not cause skin break down or UTI.
Urine collection devices are typically attached to or inserted into a user's body for the purpose of collecting urine or allowing the user to void the bladder. The present devices in the field include, but are not limited to, urinary catheters, Foley catheters, suprapubic catheters, nephrostomy catheters, condom catheters, and external incontinence devices. Of these devices, conventional incontinence devices may collect urine excreted from into a urine collection bag or may enable the user to immediately void the user's bladder. More recently a line of products have come out to address the need for a urinary incontinence device for males that attaches externally, however, there are issues with the current devices.
Current external urine collection devices have incorporated a parameatal seal to be adhesively secured to the end of the glans penis to prevent leakage of urine. One prominent issue with the current seal is that users incorrectly attach the device resulting in the urine leakage. The addition of multiple attachment members, such as a plurality of petals in addition to a strap, has been used to try and address the problem. However, additional attachment member(s) has not solved the problem. For users, multiple attachment members may increase the likelihood of creating a poor seal resulting in urine leakage, requiring the reattachment or replacement of the attachment members.
Even with the attachment members optimally positioned and attached, the attachment members may fail due to backflow of urine to the attachment members, which can cause detachment of the incontinence collection device. The adhesive attaching the device to the user is dissolved when subjected to a warm liquid. In current devices, the collection conduit that collects excreted urine does not adequately prevent backflow. Conventional devices allow urine to flow back into the collection conduit and come in contact with the dissolvable adhesive. Due to the fact that urine is warm, upon backflow of urine, the adhesive may dissolve leading to the detachment of the device from the user and urine spillage. For example, one may dissolve the adhesive by simply tilting the device towards the collection conduit (e.g., by leaning back, reclining in a chair, crossing a leg, etc.). Thus, common acts may lead to the backflow of urine and failure of the adhesive, resulting in detachment of the incontinence device.
Yet another issue with the current external male incontinence device is the drainage valve. Often times the drainage valve is a snap-fit valve (similar to the basic air retention valves found in inflatable mattresses, flotation devices, and pool toys). The user has to disengage the exit valve manually by removing the cap of the snap-fit valve to release the urine collected in the urine receptacle. It is difficult for a user to control the flow of urine when initially opening the snap-fit valve cap because the valves are clumsy and awkward and require two hands to operate. Therefore, the user may spill urine onto their hands or other undesirable places when trying to empty the urine receptacle when opening the snap-fit exit valve.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an improved incontinence collection device and methods for using the same.